This £4.2bn scheme for instance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Tideway_Scheme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Tideway_Scheme However, following the 2

This £4.2bn scheme for instance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Tideway_Scheme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Tideway_Scheme However, following the 2008 crisis, the government followed a strategy of immediate spending reduction (as opposed to US stimulus spend). While mega projects such as this were still funded, the budget for environmental management was reduced by ~30% accounting for inflation. This impacted river and drainage channel maintenance, greatly increasing damage inevitable from bad weather. The cost of the 2012 floods post cuts was £1bn, compared to a cost of 0.5bn from worse weather before the cuts in 2009 (similar rainfall accompanied by strong winds as well).This is about 30% more than the total saving from budget cuts. The interesting thing is, I have not yet seen anyone in the press draw a connection. The locals know, that the floods rose from ditches and rivers that were not dredged. I've not seen the broader picture mentioned in the UK press once. Maybe no one cares, because drainage is boring, and doesn't do anything when it isn't desperately needed. There are a lot of things like that.